Boba Fett
For the Swedish pianist and guitarist Anders "Boba Fett" Lindström, see Anders Lindström as Boba Fett]] Boba Fett, portrayed and voiced by several actors, is a character in the Star Wars fictional universe. A bounty hunter hired by Darth Vader to track down the Millennium Falcon, he is the "next major villain" after Vader in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) establishes that Boba Fett is a clone of Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison), a bounty hunter who raises Boba as a son. The Star Wars Expanded Universe expands on Fett's origins and career as a bounty hunter. Fett, the personification of "danger and mystery", is a "cult figure" and "one of the most popular characters in the entire Star Wars galaxy". Depiction Fett first "appeared" at the September 24, 1978, San Anselmo Country Fair parade. The character appeared on television several weeks later, animated by Nelvana Studios for The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) as a mysterious figure who seems to befriend but ultimately betrays Luke Skywalker (voiced by Mark Hamill), Chewbacca, C-3PO (voiced by Anthony Daniels), and R2-D2. The character appears in the Marvel Comics Star Wars series, and then in The Empire Strikes Back. Hired by Darth Vader (James Earl Jones/David Prowse), he tracks the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City, where Vader captures Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and C-3PO. Vader tortures Solo; Fett, who wants to deliver Solo to Jabba the Hutt to collect a bounty, confronts Vader about whether Solo will survive. Vader asserts that Solo "will not be permanently damaged", marking the only time a character other than Emperor Palpatine makes Vader falter. Fett is at Jabba's palace in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) when Leia frees Solo. Jabba sentences Skywalker (Hamill), Solo, and Chewbacca to be eaten by a sarlacc; Fett is on Jabba's sail barge over the sarlacc when the prisoners mount an escape. While aiming at Skywalker, Fett does not notice Solo nearby; Solo inadvertantly swings a weapon into Fett's rocket pack, activating it. Fett ultimately falls into the sarlacc's mouth. In Attack of the Clones, Boba Fett is a child clone of bounty hunter Jango Fett, who is raising Boba as a son. Boba helps the bounty hunter escape from Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), and witnesses Jango's decapitation by Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson). The young adult Boba Fett book series depicts Fett taking his father's ship and armor to begin his own bounty hunting career. Some Expanded Universe stories released before Attack of the Clones depict other accounts of Fett's origins. These stories include him being a stormtrooper who killed his commanding officer; a leader of the fabled Mandalorian warriors; and Jaster Mereel, a "Journeyman Protector" convicted of treason. Karen Traviss' novel Bloodlines (2006), published four years after Attack of the Clones release, states that Fett seeded some of these "false" backstories himself. Dark Horse Comics' Dark Empire series (1991–1992) reveals Fett's escape from the sarlacc. K. W. Jeter's The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy (1998–1999) and Kevin J. Anderson's Tales From Jabba's Palace anthology (1995) go into detail about Fett's escape and recovery. Video games and books depict Fett's work as a bounty hunter, for which he charges "famously expensive" fees and that he undertakes only when the mission meets "his harsh sense of justice". Fett plays a prominent role in the Legacy of the Force series, with Jaina Solo appealing for his training to help her defeat her brother, who has fallen to the Sith and become Darth Caedus. Concept and development Boba Fett stems from initial concepts for Darth Vader, who was originally conceived as a rogue bounty hunter. While Vader became less a mercenary and more a dark knight, the bounty hunter concept remained, and Fett became "an equally villainous" but "less conspicuous" character. Concept artist Ralph McQuarrie influenced Fett's design, which was finalized by and is credited to Joe Johnston. Screentested in all-white armor, Fett eventually garnered a subdued color scheme intended to visually place him between white-armored "rank-and-file" Imperial stormtroopers and Vader, who wears black. The character's armor was designed to appear to have been scavenged from multiple sources, and it is adorned with trophies. A description of the character's armor in the summer 1979 Bantha Tracks newsletter catalyzed "rampant speculation" about the character's mysterious origins. After his image and identity were revealed in The Star Wars Holiday Special, costumed Fett characters appeared in shopping malls and special events, putting up "Wanted" posters of the character to identify him as distinct from the franchise's Imperial characters. Despite two years of widespread publicity about Fett's appearance in The Empire Strikes Back, script rewrites significantly reduced the character's presence in the film. However, this may have made the character seem more intriguing. Fett has a "distinctive" theme, composed by John Williams, that is "not music, exactly" ... but "more of a gurgly, viola-and-bassoon thing aurally cross-pollinated with some obscure static sounds". Star Wars creator George Lucas considered adding a shot where Fett escapes the sarlaac in Return of the Jedi, but decided against it because it would have detracted from the story's focus.Return of the Jedi DVD audio commentary Lucas also said that, had he known Fett would be so popular, he would have made the character's supposed death "more exciting". Lucas at one point considered having Vader and Fett be brothers in the prequel films, but discounted it as too "'hokey'". Portrayals Fett is played by Jeremy Bulloch in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, although Jason Wingreen provided his voice in The Empire Strikes Back. George Buza voiced Fett in the Star Wars: Droids episode "Race to the Finish" (1985). His brief appearance in the special edition of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1997) was performed by Industrial Light & Magic creature animator Mark Austin; Fett's appearance in the special edition footage of Return of the Jedi was performed by Don Bies and Nelson Hall. Daniel Logan portrayed Fett as a child in Attack of the Clones. For the 2004 DVD release of The Empire Strikes Back, his voice was replaced by Temuera Morrison's. Morrison and other actors have also voiced Fett for several Star Wars video games. Critical reaction Susan Mayse calls Fett "the unknowable Star Wars character" who "delivers mythic presence." Although Tom Bissell asserts that no one knows why Boba Fett has become so popular, nor cares why, both Lucas and Bulloch cite Fett's mysterious nature as reasons for his popularity. Bissell adds that Boba Fett, along with other minor characters like Darth Maul and Kyle Katarn, appeals to adolescent boys' "images of themselves: essentially bad-ass but ... honorable about it". This tension and the absence of a clear "evil nature" (distinct from evil actions) offer Fett dramatic appeal. Furthermore, Fett "is cool because he was designed to be cool", presenting a "wicked ambiguity" akin to Iago and John Milton's Satan. Bissell compares Fett to Beowulf, Ahab, and Huckleberry Finn: characters "too big" for their original presentation, and apt for "addition, subtraction, clarification" in other stories. In developing the character, Lucas "closed down" some of these avenues while opening others. Bissell credits Bulloch for giving Fett "effortless authority" in his first scene in The Empire Strikes Back, using such nuances as "cradling"—rather than "holding"—his blaster and slightly cocking his head. The San Francisco Chronicle described Boba Fett fans as "among the most passionate". In his text exploring Star Wars fandom, Will Brooker calls "superb" a fan's campaign to have Boba Fett unmasked as a woman. Merchandising Fett was the first new, mail-away action figure created for The Empire Strikes Back; although advertised as having a rocket-firing backpack, safety concerns led to the figure being sold with his rocket attached. Fett is one of the top five best-selling Star Wars action figures, and Hallmark has created a Boba Fett Christmas tree ornament. Boba Fett merchandise is "among the most expensive". 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